Canada must appoint a coach soon if they are to qualify for the next World Cup, says Andy Pick their former coach. Pick, who has resumed his role with England Under-19 after his year-long sabbatical with Canada, has warned that, with the qualification stages in just 18 months, steps have to be taken now.”It’s essential to get a coach in place,” he said. “If Canada miss out on qualification that will be a massive step backwards.”The importance of qualifying has taken on even more weight now that the ICC is likely to increase the amount of money given to the Associates on the back of its deal with ESPN. Without qualifying, then the gap between them and the Full Members could widen massively and so “they need to beg, steal or borrow to get a programme in place for the next 18 months.”While coaching Canada in their recent World Cup campaign was “a very, very enjoyable experience”, Pickadmits to being disappointed at the restrictions he found when it cameto putting his ideas into practice. “It’s frustrating. I was takenthere as a Level 4 coach to implement frameworks and structures butthere was no money to implement them. Money was between very, verytight and non-existent.”
You can’t buy consistency… but youcan put in programs that help you be consistent
The ICC did contribute and, as Pick acknowledges, it’s not abottomless pit, but the conditions that came with the funding were, at times,restrictive. “They put the money in, but it’s all ringfenced.” Still,Pick believes the solution has to come from within: “Hopefully thenational government will start funding cricket to a certain level.”CCA were missing certain criteria to make them eligible for government assistance, but these arenow being addressed. What’s needed is an initial input of cash to fund appointments such as a marketing manager to raise more money and such schemes as a junior development programme, and “that’s when it will get exciting.”There is enough potential, he says, within Canadian cricket: as somany play the game, there must be “a trickle, if not a stream, ofnatural talent.” He adds: “It’s just a question of putting programs inplace.”
And he is optimistic for Canada’s future. He has identified that theartificial pitches and nets need to be replaced, where possible, withgrass to improve techniques. He would start with Toronto, where 85% of the top players are based, and would change their nets and the Premier League pitches.He admits the chief executive Ben Sennick’s desire for Canada to be aTest team within ten years is a long-shot, but not impossible. “Thatvision is there.” A more realistic goal is being a one-day outfit inthe mould of Bangladesh and Kenya, and one that should be attainedwell within a decade.He was encouraged, in parts, by Canada’s display in the World Cup. “Weshowed glimpses of competitiveness. You can’t buy consistency… but youcan put in programs that help you be consistent. We’ve shown in placeswe have the ability.” But only by playing more will they trulycompete. And to play more the players have to be available and to beavailable they all of course need… money.
Michael Atherton, the former England captain who was part of the commentary team for the India-England series, has said that commentators had been asked to stay clear of “sensitive” issues by the production company.”The Indian cricket board treat Nimbus, the production company to whom they sold the television rights, like an in-house production company,” Atherton wrote in his column in the . “Nimbus are petrified of upsetting their ’employer’, for fear of not getting any future rights, so any criticism of the BCCI is strictly frowned upon.”Local commentators are already asked to wear the BCCI logo and are asked not to mention sensitive subjects like the spat between Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly, or controversial selection issues, no matter how germane they might be to the action. There has been talk that eventually the BCCI will have their own cricket channel. No doubt the viewers will get to see only what the BCCI want them to see and, with compliant commentators on board, they will hear only what the BCCI want them to hear.”Harish Thawani, promoter of Nimbus, denied these claims. “I am the producer of the series and I have not issued any instructions to this effect,” he was quoted as saying in . “In fact, the commentators were very critical of the amount of cricket being played and of the board overusing certain cricketers. There’s no question of gagging anyone.”Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, rejected the claims made by Atherton, referring to it as a misunderstanding. He said cricketers, once out of the field, have a platform to criticise people as openly as they can write in newspapers and express in other ways. He added that the board was willing to clarify all concerns the commentators may have.Javagal Srinath, the former Indian fast bowler who was also one of the commentators during the series, had a different view. “I don’t know what was told to them [the Sky team],” he told Cricinfo, “but we had no restraint as such.”
Ricky Ponting has insisted that his bowlers will hit top form in this weekend’s NatWest Series final against England after they let Bangladesh off the hook on Thursday. In the last group game of the tournament, Australia were set for a convincing win after reducing Bangladesh to 75 for 5. But Bangladesh, who’d stunned the cricket world 12 days earlier by beating Australia by five wickets in Cardiff, batted out their 50 overs on the way to posting a competitive 250 for 8.Australia eventually got home with 11 balls to spare with Michael Clarke (80 not out) andAndrew Symonds (42 not out) securing a six-wicket win. But while Bangladesh may not have had enough bowling to make the most of their batsmen’s recovery, England possess the likes of Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones.”We probably made harder work of it than we should have,” Ponting admitted after Thursday’s match. “We’ve bowled better at England in a couple of games than we have against Bangladesh. Bigger games tend to bring the best out of this team and certain players in our team and I think that has been proven over a long period of time so today will be forgotten about.”In the meantime Ponting will hope his attack can to stop the extras that have blighted their tournament thus far. On Thursday they conceded 23 extras including 14 wides and no-balls – the equivalent of more than two extra overs.Australia and England have beaten each other once apiece in the tournament with a wash-out at Edgbaston. “We’ve just got to get back to thinking about the basics of the game and our plans that we will have for the English batsmen,” Ponting continued. “Not knowing a lot about some of the individual players in the Bangladesh side sometimes makes it a little bit harder to set fields and have certain plans. We’ll probably have better plans for the England players when we get to play against them.”But he admitted he was concerned about the bowling extras. “The no-ball thing we see as being almost totally unacceptable in our side. It’s the most zero tolerance type of thing in our team. We have bowled a few of those in the last couple of games and I know the bowlers are working extremely hard to try and ensure they don’t bowl them.”In the meantime he said Bangladesh had provided the ideal workout in what was adead match with England and Australia already in the final. “To be able to chase 250 won’t do us any harm anyway, to be under a bit of pressure at 83 for 3 was good for us and will hold us in good stead for Saturday.”While England will have had several days of rest leading up to the final since their last group game on Sunday, Australia will have had a far more congested schedule. “It will have been a tough run for us going into this final with three games in five days,” Ponting said. “But we will have a relaxing day on Friday, get all our plans sorted out, hit theground running on Saturday and hopefully perform at our best.”
Australia outclassed India with the ball and bat, and in the field, to register a thumping seven-wicket win in the first of the three finals of the VB Series. To their credit India fought hard, engineering a mini-recovery. At the end of the day, though, there was little to cheer about for Indian fans. The team will have to shrug off this loss in a hurry if they are to stretch Australia to a third final.The day began well for India, when Sourav Ganguly won the toss and chose to bat on a light-coloured dry pitch. From there on little went right. Australia’s fast bowlers, rejuvenated after a couple of games on the bouncy tracks of Perth, hit a perfect length. The batsmen had nothing to drive at and slowly but surely were pushed onto the back foot. From then on, the bowlers merely had to persist. Every now and then a ball did a bit extra, a batsman committed a mistake and the wickets fell.Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar both departed inside six overs. Sehwag fended Jason Gillespie awkwardly to Adam Gilchrist while Tendulkar played a half-cocked drive to a full one from Brett Lee and was bowled through the gate (2 for 14). Soon after, VVS Laxman (24) and Rahul Dravid were gone with the score on 48 and India were in deep strife. Each of the four Australian bowlers used – Gillespie, Lee, Williams and Harvey – had struck.Ganguly walked out to the wicket amidst a rain of short balls, no doubt ruing the way things turned out after he had decided to bat. He played and missed more than once, attempting pull shots that would have been more in place on a beach in the Caribbean than an international tournament final. In the event, he was put out of his misery soon enough, by the bowler least likely to get him, when he cut and edged Ian Harvey to the keeper. Yuvraj Singh had a breezy yet pleasant stay out in the middle, clipping two effortless boundaries. Then, he became the latest casualty, edging a full one from Lee to the keeper. At 6 for 76 India were dead and buried.Ajit Agarkar then wafted out like a refreshing breeze and hit the bowlers all around the park. The pressure of being so many down for so few seemed to act in reverse. After all, Agarkar had little to lose. His driving down the ground was crisp, his whips off the hip well-placed and his pull shot phenomenal. Hemang Badani, the last recognised batsman, watched in disbelief as a lesser batsman made light of the task at hand. Fortunately for India, Badani did not attempt to match Agarkar stroke for stroke. Instead he buckled down, brushed off the times he played and missed, and held up one end.Agarkar’s dramatic pull shot off Harvey, when he swiveled with the twirl of a ballerina and deposited a perfectly good ball over the stands at midwicket, was the highlight of a 102-run seventh wicket partnership that breathed life into the game. But even then, Agarkar’s breezy 53 (62 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) and Badani’s determined 60 not out (81 balls, 4 fours) could only take India to 222.When India came out to attempt a defense of 222, it was almost an impossible task. Yet, Agarkar and Lakshmipathy Balaji began well enough, sending down two tight overs. And then all hell broke loose. Gilchrist opened his shoulders and launched the kind of assault you need when you’re chasing 323 rather than 223. His bat came down fast and furiously with metronomic efficiency. Anything that was full, or wide, and preferably both, was dispatched with an arrogant air.Gilchrist (38, 20 balls, 7 fours) was particularly savage on Balaji early on. He crashed him for three boundaries in four balls, and had scored 18 runs from the first five balls of the over before he finally slipped up. Balaji came around the wicket, dug the ball in short and Gilchrist’s pull sailed high and handsome into Tendulkar’s hands at deep backward square leg (1 for 48).If India were happy to see the back of Gilchrist, the smiles were wiped off their faces by a rampant Ponting. He attacked the bowling from the moment he walked out to the middle, getting his eye in well against the medium-pacers before expanding his victims list to accommodate the spinners. His quicksilver footwork formed the basis for his clean hitting. He was not always to the pitch of the ball, but that hardly mattered as he drove on the up and through the line with sure hands. Small wonder that he was happy to walk when he edged one on 88 (80 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes) with the score on 193.Balaji picked up three consolation wickets, including that of Hayden in unusual circumstances. Hayden drove uppishly at a slower ball and only managed a gentle scoop back towards the bowler. An apologetic appeal from Balaji was upheld by the third umpire. Hayden’s unusually restrained 50 (91 balls, 4 fours) formed the backbone of the 139-run partnership with Ponting for the third wicket. Suffice it to say it was more than enough to see Australia home.
Yorkshire’s Australian first-team coach Wayne Clark has left the club by mutual consent after two years.Clark took over at Headingley after Martyn Moxon’s surprise decision to move to Durham in January 2001, and met with immediate success as the club won the County Championship.However, riches turned to rags for Clark last season when Yorkshire finished bottom of the First Division. Clark is understood to have turned down the position of bowling coach.Clark still had a year of his contract to run, and club president Robin Smith told the Yorkshire Post that he was in touch with Clark’s lawyers to work out the terms of his departure.Kevin Sharp is expected to be appointed full-time batting coach, while Arnie Sidebottom is likely to be become bowling coach.
Joseph Hill has been named Manawatu’s cricket player of the year.Hill scored 756 runs at an average of 94.1 for his Kia Toa club over the summer.Other club trophy winners were:Premier One:
50-Over Champions (2ZA Cup) – KTFCC
Two-Day Champions (Barraud Cup) – Marist CC
Eight-a-side Champions (Eight-a-side Trophy) – KTFCC
Premier Two:
50-Over Champions (Henry & Moody Cup) – Feilding CC
Two-Day Champions (T R Moore Cup) – PNBHS
Premier Three:
50-Over Champions (Association Shield) – Palmerston CC
Two-Day Champions (MCA Shield) – Palmerston CC
Premier Four:
50-Over Champions (A M Ongley Trophy) – Old Boys CC
Two-Day Champions (Mark Briggs Shield) – PNBHS
Reserve Grade:
Champions (Oakley Shield) – Old Boys CC
Overall Club Supremacy: Ongley Cup PNBHSIndividual Trophy winners:Batting:
Premier One (Justice & Edmonds Cup) – J Hill (KTFCC), 756 runs @ 94.1
Premier Two (Scorgie Shield) – C Mason (Palmerston CC), 304 runs @ 38
Premier Three (MCA Cup) – K Stratford (KTFCC), 356 runs @ 56.7
Premier Four (MCA Trophy) – H Brown (PNBHS), 385 runs @ 42.8
Reserve Grade (Abraham Cup) – S Earle (Old Boys CC), 539 runs @ 81.5
Women (MWCA Trophy) – K Legg (Old Boys CC), Ave 25.7
Bowling:
Premier One (Taranto Shield) – R MacKay (PNBHS), 29 wkts @ 17.7
Premier Two (Stewart Cup) – M Taiuru (PNBHS), 27 wkts @ 10.9
Premier Three (MCA Cup) – L Martin (Palmerston CC), 36 wkts @ 8.31
Premier Four (Rowe Trophy) – T Wilson (PNBHS), 28 wkts @ 8.9
Reserve Grade (Association Cup) – L Nicholls (Old Boys CC), 27 wkts @ 12.5
Women (MWCA Cup) – M Murray (Old Boys CC), 14 wkts @ 31.0
Qantas New Zealand Player of the Season: J Hill (KTFCC)Representative Trophy Winners:
Gallichan Cup (Most Meritorious Innings) – 313-run partnership, J Hill (194) and P Ingram (180) v Horowhenua-Kapiti
McVicar Cup (Most Meritorious Bowling) – G West, 6 overs, 2 maidens, 12 runs, 5 wickets, including a hat-trick v Hawkes Bay
Oakley Cup (Best Fielder) – B Griggs, 8 catches, 2 stumpings
Adrianne Stratford Memorial Cup (Most Promising Player) – I Sandbrook
MCA Umpires Salver (Women’s Rep Player of the Year) – E Travers
Tottenham ‘insider’ John Wenham is delighted with the news that talented youngsters Malachai Fagan-Walcott and Brooklyn Lyons-Foster have signed new deals with the Lilywhites.
The Lowdown: New deals for Spurs duo
On 17 March, Spurs took to Twitter to announce that the two Development Squad players had signed new contracts with the club, keeping them at Hotspur Way until 2023.
Fagan-Walcott has particularly caught the attention of the senior Spurs staff this season, and the 19-year-old has been regularly training with Antonio Conte’s first team. For the under-23 side, he has made 14 appearances in this season’s Premier League 2, matching the tally of Lyons-Foster, who he partners at centre-back.
Wenham has been left delighted with the club’s latest two deals. Speaking with Football Insider, he gushed:
“I’m delighted. I was expecting this news, with Brooklyn especially. We know he won’t play again this season and Tottenham are quite good at showing loyalty when these things happen.
“He has done really well this year and he has developed as a central defensive midfield player. I’m really happy with his progress. With Malachai, he’s already his debut in the Champions League under Mourinho.
“I have mentioned before how Ledley King has told me how much he rates him. It is great to tie down a player like that, he’s a boyhood Tottenham fan too. So it’s really good news for us, even if it was expected.”
The Verdict: Future looking bright
With Conte seemingly putting more faith in youth recently amid the first-team emergence of Dane Scarlett, the two new deals will come as great news for the Italian.
With both Fagan-Walcott and Lyons-Foster being centre-backs, their new contracts could come in very useful if the Lilywhites suffer a number of injuries across the back line, where the manager opts to play with three central defenders.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Tottenham’s aim to push for a top four finish this season should ensure their place in some European competition next term. Therefore, this will require further rotation of the squad, which should give these youngsters a chance to shine on the biggest stage.
In other news: Pete O’Rourke makes Paulo Dybala to Spurs claim
Saturday March 22, 2008 Start time 0930 (local), 0330 (GMT)
The big picture
Bangladesh defeated Ireland by 84 runs in the second one-day international in Mirpur on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the best-of-three series. The series win, albeit against non Test-playing opposition, should have put smiles on the faces of Bangladesh’s passionate fans given the losing streak their side was on. Mohammad Ashraful has been under immense pressure and his scores would have alleviated some of that. Ireland, after a good run in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, have struggled against the hosts. Their main contributions have come from the lower order – namely Alex Cusack and Andre Botha – and the top order is a worry. Their bowling has been workmanlike, with no bowler really bothering Bangladesh. A win in the final game would boost spirits before they return home.
Form Guide – Ireland
Last five completed matches: LWWLLPlayer to watch: Cusack has scored the most runs for his side in the short series, offering stability down the order. Ireland’s top order has yet to get going and Cusack has played two crucial innings, showing an appetite to stick around. In the first game he played a patient knock of 38 off 61 balls, helping Ireland to 185, and in the second he and Botha added 52 in just over ten overs. A promotion up the order may not be a bad idea.
Last five completed matches: LLLWWPlayer to watch: Shahriar Nafees leads the run tally with 150 from two games: a fluent unbeaten 90 sealed an eight-wicket win in the opener and his 61 led a top-order rally. Nafees’ driving and flicking has been pleasing on the eye, and his fluency a good come back from the batsman who won Bangladesh’s cricketer-of-the-year award for 2006.
Team news
With the series already wrapped up Bangladesh have the option of resting some players but given the poor form they have been in going into this series, they may well look to build on their returns in the first to games. Ireland are likely to keep the same XI.Bangladesh (probable XI) Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Raqibul Hasan, Dhiman Ghosh (wk), Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak.Ireland (probable XI) William Porterfield, Reinhardt Strydom, Eoin Morgan, Niall O’Brien (wk), Kevin O’Brien, Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston (capt), Dave Langford-Smith, Greg Thompson, Kyle McCallan.Weather: Saturday’s predominant weather is forecast to be light showers, with a high of 91°F.
Quotes
“We are 2-0 behind but the third game is a massive one for us because we want to leave Bangladesh on a high.”Trent Johnson, Ireland captain “We had beaten a lot of weak teams in the lead-up to the World Cup and the habit helped us in the tournament proper. By beating Ireland we want to get that habit back.” Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh captain
Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh have been given seven days to explain their conduct to the Indian board for having spoken to the media on former coach Greg Chappell.”The notices seeking an explanation were sent yesterday and they have been asked to respond within seven days,” a BCCI official told Cricinfo.The two players were issued notices on April 7 asking them to explain their comments to the media which were in violation of the board’s Code of Conduct for its players.On April 4 published an interview with Tendulkar in which he said that Indian cricketers would be disappointed with Chappell if he questioned their attitude. “I’ve given my heart and my soul for 17 years,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying. “No coach had mentioned even in passing that my attitude was not correct. Cricket has been my life for all these years and will always be.”It’s not that we are defending ourselves,” he added. “We do realise that we played badly and, as a team, we take full responsibility for that. But what hurt us most is if the coach has questioned our attitude.”Yuvraj’s comment to a television channel on April 6, that all the players supported Tendulkar, was also deemed a breach of the code.
Shoaib Malik has undergone successful surgery on his elbow to correct his suspect bowling action. He should now be fit for the tour of England later this summer. Malik has been reported twice by match officials in the last two years and has primarily played as a batsman, though he has occasionally bowled. He was reported last in the Test series at home against England last year.Malik, backed by the Pakistan board, has unsuccessfully argued that his damaged elbow has caused his action to appear suspect but now that he has undergone surgery to rectify it, the problem should not crop up again.Malik went to Cape Town for the operation, which involved removing floating bones from his right elbow and repairing tissues. He has been advised to rest for six to eight weeks before batting and bowling again.”I suffered pain in my right elbow while batting or bowling and it was one of the reasons why I had problems extending it properly,” Malik told . “I am happy that this problem is done with now. I am confident I will be fit by the time the team leaves for England in late June. It is a tour I have been looking forward too for a long time.”Malik damaged his elbow in a road accident in 2003 but due to busy playing schedules he has been unable to find time to have the problem seen to. Although he cemented his place as a versatile top-order ODI batsman some time ago – and has now played 117 ODIs – he only recently secured his place in the Test side. Malik has been transformed into a Test opener in the last eight of his 15 Tests and he scored his first Test century – a match-saving one – against Sri Lanka recently.